Erotics of Sovereignty

The Erotics of Sovereignty - Queer Native Writing in the Era of Self-Determination by Mark Rifkin2012, Paperback

How queer Native writers use the erotics of lived experience to challenge both federal and tribal notions of “Indianness”

In 1970 the Nixon administration inaugurated a new era in federal Indian policy, promoting “the Indian’s sense of autonomy without threatening his sense of community.” Mark Rifkin offers a telling perspective on what such a policy of self-determination has meant and looks at how contemporary queer Native writers use representations of sensation to challenge official U.S. accounts of Native identity.

"Mark Rifkin’s ability to productively articulate the connections between straightness and empire alone marks him as one of the most significant scholars in American Indian Studies. In this book, Rifkin thoughtfully prods us to think about how queer Native writers are literally ‘reimagining’ Indianness outside of those oppressive norms in a way that nuances our understanding of how Native peoples practice sovereignty in everyday life, despite the continued influence of imperialism inside tribal politics."- Malea Powell, Michigan State University